Travel: BritMums go skiing

Having just returned from my first skiing holiday I am now belatedly aware how family-friendly the sport is and how, if children learn early, you can look forward to many happy hours on the slopes in future years.

If you aren’t sure whether skiing will suit your family or not, take the children to an indoor centre where everyone can get a taste of the real thing. Susanna, A Modern Mother, visited The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead. All the gear can be hired (apart from socks and gloves) and the experience was authentic, down to the freezing temperatures and après ski hot drinks. Susanna’s girls advanced quickly and gained so much confidence during the day. Skiing in England!

Learning to ski when you are as young as possible is good advice: your centre of gravity is lower and children tend to pick up the skills quickly. Elizabeth, Wander Mum, has just returned from France where her young daughter tried skiing for the first time: Teaching our daughter to ski at three years old.

Alice at Project:Wanderlust also tried her first family skiing holiday in France. Appreciating that skiing with young children isn’t without its challenges and is a far cry from those pre-kids ski fests of her youth, she would definitely go again and both her daughters are longing to return: Family skiing with Madame Vacances

Parents will naturally be anxious about their kids learning to ski but there is a lot you can do to minimise risks. Helen from Actually Mummy has some excellent advice regarding insurance, planning and packing before you go plus tips on ensuring all is well at the resort: Keeping kids safe and happy on a family ski holiday

France is a very popular destination for British skiers and, if you choose a resort at a higher altitude, the season can last much longer. Cerys, Rainy Day Mum, suggests a family ski trip at Easter can have its advantages: longer days and fewer queues: Skiing in Spring

Most people think of the Alps as the natural choice for a French ski holiday. Catherine, writing for Take The Family, highlights the advantages of the Pyrenees. Accessible from UK airports, the resorts are often smaller and less expensive. Perfect for beginners, Catherine recommends A family ski holiday in La Mongie, French Pyrenees

Sarah, who blogs at St Bloggie de Riviere, is able to pop in the car from her home in Montpellier to go skiing in the Massif Central. It’s not as easy as it sounds when you have snow chains to fit to your car whilst wearing men’s gloves and a bright pink onesie: Prat Peyrot sous la neige.

Elsewhere in Europe, skiing opportunities are numerous. Mirka, All Baby Advice, returns regularly to her home country, Czech Republic. If you are looking at a less expensive option for a family ski holiday, it’s certainly worth considering: Family ski holiday on a budget

A short hop from Munich, Emma, from A Bavarian Sojourn, headed to Austria this year for their annual ski break. Emma isn’t quite as keen on the sport as the rest of the family so makes sure the accommodation is top notch and the resort has enough to occupy her, especially as she is the one holding the baby: Carving up Kitzbuhel

Nichola at Globalmouse Travels can highly recommend Norway for its beauty, atmosphere and excellent instruction but what did her children make of it? Here’s What my children say about skiing with Crystal Ski in Beitostølen, Norway

Norway is also a firm favourite with Catherine, of Catherine’s Cultural Wednesdays. This year was her family’s sixth visit to Venabu for a week of cross country skiing. The combination of beautiful scenery, excellent food and welcoming people is hard to resist: Venabu 2016

What’s it like to ski in North America? As a first timer, I spent a week at the resorts of Winter Park and Steamboat Springs in Colorado. Trust me, if I can learn to ski then your children will have no problem at all. No language difficulties, wide, easy runs and the softest powder snow to fall on: Mum’s Gone to Colorado: Learning to ski in Winter Park

Megan, Truly Madly Kids, and her family decided to try Whistler in Canada, after two successful family ski trips in the Alps. It was a huge success because of the superb instructors, fantastic snow and all-round friendly atmosphere. Pricey but worth it. A family ski trip to Whistler

Of course, there’s more to a ski resort than just skiing. Gretta from Mums Do Travel, has just returned from a short break in Alpe d’Huez and a highlight of the trip was experiencing dog-sledding. “Peaceful, effortless, exhilarating.” Have a look at Gretta’s video and see for yourself: Dog-sledding in Alpe d’Huez

If you would like to be featured in next month’s travel round-up, tweet your links to me @mumsgoneto or contact me via my blog. I would love to find out what you’ve all been doing over the Easter holidays so please share your posts with me and I will share them with BritMums.

About Trish Burgess

Trish Burgess started her blog ‘Mum’s Gone To…’ with a series of posts called ‘Mum's Gone To Iceland' where she was extremely ill on a whale-watching trip and thought she would die snow-mobiling on a glacier. Thankfully she survived and continued with less scary family trips: ‘Mum’s Gone To…Canada, Cyprus, Barcelona, Berlin etc. Originally from Newcastle upon Tyne she now lives in South Lincolnshire and travels with her husband and occasionally with her son, who is now at university. Trish can be found on Twitter at @mumsgoneto

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